Māmā-2-Māmā breastfeeding peer counsellor training

Anyone who would like to give breastfeeding support to others and/or spread the word about how awesome breastfeeding is! We are inviting all nannies, koro, partners, friends, professionals, or just people interested in the wonders of infant nutrition. Anyone who can commit to the programme, is invited!

Our Māmā-2-Māmā Breastfeeding Peer Counsellor Programme is based off the La Leche League New Zealand, Aotearoa peer counsellor programme and is facilitated by the wonderful Rukmini Keane, supported by the Canterbury Breastfeeding Advocacy Service.

Throughout the 8 sessions, our trainees are guided through whanaungatanga, effective communication, some technicalities and characteristics of breastfeeding, how to support breastfeeding māmā through some breastfeeding challenges, and both global and local breastfeeding initiatives.

The last session is a graduation ceremony where we celebrate the achievements of our new Peer Counsellors. Whānau and friends are welcome to join us for this session.

Our programmes typically have intakes once per term. Sessions run once per week (usually a Friday morning).

Our sessions are run in person in central-east Ōtautahi. We have delivered the programme online historically, however we find that kanohi ki te kanohi provides a beautiful environment for valuable discussion. It’s also a great excuse for a kai and a cuppa (provided).

If getting to the training may be a challenge for you, please reach out – we may be able to help.

We will provide all participants with resources to support learning. Participants are always welcome to reach out if additional support is needed or if there is anything else we can do to awhi their journey. This includes anything we can do to help with course accessibility.

Pēpi are welcome to join us too, however we encourage whānau to find alternative arrangements for older tamariki where possible.

A breastfeeding peer counsellor programme has the potential to increase the numbers of māmā who start breastfeeding, improve exclusivity of breastfeeding rates and improve duration of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding peer counsellors become advocates for breastfeeding in their hapori/community.

This increase in breastfeeding rates will reduce the numbers of pēpi getting sick, reduce the hospital admission rates and contribute positively to longer term health targets. These include reduction in obesity rates and diabetes and heart disease later in life. Increasing breastfeeding will also contribute significantly to the well-being and health of māmā and offer some protection from depression, breast and ovarian cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.

The overriding aim of training peer counsellors for breastfeeding is to build capacity within hapori/communities for people to support breastfeeding māmā. Making sure that breastfeeding knowledge is built up all across the motu is a key to breastfeeding continuance.

• We hope that you will have increased your breastfeeding knowledge and that you will be able to pass this information on to your friends and others you come in contact with.
• There are breastfeeding support groups across the city that would welcome your help. If there isn’t a group near you then you might like to help set one up.
• If you are also available for some phone contact with women looking for support that would be great.
• You may have other good ideas that you would like to implement with the support of other breastfeeding peer counsellors and the Māmā-2-Māmā Coordinator.
• You might like to support some of our other initiatives related to breastfeeding, like our breastfeeding-friendly cafes project.
• There are regular catch-ups for trained Peer Counsellors that are fun and help you keep contact with others and up to date with breastfeeding information.